Car Craft All Star Drag Racing Team - All-Star Glory

The '98 Car Craft All-Star Drag Racing team is dedicated to four-time CC All-Star winner John Myers who recently lost his life in a motorcycle accident. Godspeed, John...we'll miss you buddy.

2/22Cory McClenathan was your All-Star choice for Top Fuel Driver, likely based on the outstanding performance (combined with great driving talent) of the McDonald's-sponsored Top Fueler of Joe Gibbs Racing. Much of the winning credit should also go to tuner Mike Green and Murf McKinney Chassis, both of whom also won All-Star trophies.

There's no sport like drag racing, and there are no drivers like drag racers. While many motorsports thrive on fans watching the racing, most don't allow fans to intermingle with the drivers and crews. That's part of what makes drag racing great-fans can go into the pits, rub elbows with their favorite drivers, get autographs, and ask questions. That alone is usually worth the price of admission. It's this same concept that we apply to the Car Craft All-Star Drag Racing Team-let the fans and industry insiders choose who they want to be on the All-Star team.

We've been doing the Car Craft All-Star Drag Racing Team gig since 1967. Each year we run a ballot that lets readers and racers choose their favorite drivers, crewchiefs, sponsors, equipment manufacturer, chassis manufacturer, and automobile manufacturer. The votes are tallied and then three finalists in each category are formally invited to a big, glitzy All-Star awards banquet where the winners are announced. In addition, the CC staff presents awards including Special Recognition, Person of the Year, and the prestigious Ollie Lifetime Achievement Award. The "Ollie" is the most coveted All-Star award as it recognizes a person who, over their career, has made an outstanding impact on the sport of drag racing.

The banquet is open to anybody that wants to attend-and who can shell out the 75 clams for the ticket and show up in some fancy duds (preferably a tuxedo). In 1998, the banquet returned to its roots during the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis after a several-year departure to Dallas and then Los Angeles.

Putting on the All-Star banquet is a lot of work, and we couldn't do it without the support of great sponsors. Just like with a race car, sponsor support helps make dreams realities-so please consider which companies support drag racing the next time you make a purchase. There are also others to thank: the racers/builders for their outstanding efforts throughout the year; Jon Asher, Beth Stewart, Dave McClelland, and Chuck Schifsky for their weeks of hard work; and you, the fans who read Car Craft and have voted for your favorites. Now, without further oildowns, we proudly present your winners for the '98 Car Craft All-Star Drag Racing Team.

NMCA Racer All-Stars
If there's one notable about the All-Star Team it's that it has never been afraid to change with the times. As drag racing has changed over the years, so has the All-Star team. The biggest change this year is the inclusion of three driver categories from the fastest growing segment of the sport, "street legal" drag racing, as represented by the National Musclecar Association. You've read about these street-legal potent performers in the pages of Car Craft and Hot Rod magazines, and you made history by voting for your picks as the first-ever winners in this new category.